HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL: Chris Castellanos proves he's the real deal as senior

If Moore League teams were hoping Poly left-hander Chris Castellanos' junior year was a fluke, the Stanford-bound and reigning Dream Team Pitcher of the Year proved again Tuesday he's the real deal.

Castellanos threw a four-hit shutout over eight innings to lead the reigning champs to a 1-0 victory over Wilson on Tuesday night at Blair Field.

Castellanos (3-0) struck out 11 and outlasted a brilliant performance by Wilson junior Tyler Radcliffe (2-1), who struck out seven in his Moore League debut and got the loss after leaving the game with two on and no out in the bottom of the eighth.

Frankie Rios, the reigning Dream Team Player of the Year, was 0 for 3 before leading off the bottom of the eighth with a single, and the USC-bound shortstop stole second.

Julian Griego followed with a single to move Rios to third and Wilson replaced Radcliffe with Cesar Gomez.

Peter Fierros didn't waste any time in singling off of Gomez to score Rios and end another epic Moore League nailbiter under the lights.

"I told you Chris was going to have to throw a shutout and it turns out he did," Poly coach Toby Hess said.

"Tyler (Radcliffe) was amazing and deserved to win, so it kind of felt like Chase DeJong last year where we had to get shutouts from Chris to beat Wilson."

Poly (8-5, 1-0) had just one hit off Radcliffe through seven innings, but Rios energized the Jackrabbits with a leadoff single and stolen base and put the pressure on the Wilson junior.

"We needed to get a run because their guy was pitching so well, so when I got on base, I noticed they gave me a little opening and I took off for second," Rios said. "It seems like this is the way we're going to have to win games this year."

Timmy Richards had two of the four hits for the Bruins (6-5, 0-1), but Richards was caught stealing by Poly catcher Robert Casteneda after leading off the fourth with a single.

"Tyler was great," Wilson coach Andy Hall said. "You might get through the heart of their order three times like he did, but asking a kid to do it four times was pretty tough. Chris is such a polished pitcher and he never gives you many opportunities, but we're very proud of Tyler for battling like he did against a pitcher of Chris' caliber."

Fierros and Castellanos had two hits apiece for the defending champions.

"This felt just like the Moore League final game last year," Castellanos said. "He (Radcliffe) was great and they had a great approach to facing me, but I was able to execute when I needed to most. It's going to take a lot of outings like this for us to have a chance to win league again because we're not producing offensively."

In the early game, Jordan (4-4) won its fourth game in a row with a 3-2 victory over Cabrillo. Michael Hurtado went the distance and picked up the win and struck out seven Jaguars.

John Anthony Vigil drove in two runs and Hurtado had an RBI single to help his cause.